Translating machine

ABSTRACT

A translating machine that allows a prerecorded message to be selected by a user and reproduced. The machine might translate English to Russian, Russian to English, English to Vietnamese or any language to another language, for example.

United States Patent Inventors Geoffrey C. Clifford Utica, N.Y.; Charles H. Flubacker, Arlington Heights, 111. App]. No. 772,492 Filed Nov. 1, 1968 Patented July 27, 1971 Assignee lnterpretalde Internationale, Inc.

Utiea, N.Y.

TRANSLATING MACHINE 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

226/90, 274/4 1nt.Cl Gllb 1/02, 61 lb 5/56,Gl lb 15/22 Field of Search 179/l00.2

M1, 100 S, 1OOZ;226/90;274/4.2; 35/353 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Kuhlik Tayloretal Diamond et al. Nakamatsu Metzger Walker...

Koch

Stanton Primary Examiner-Stanley M. Urynowicz, Jr.

Att0rneyHi1l, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson ABSTRACT: A translating machine that allows a prerecorded message to be selected by a user and reproduced. The machine might translate English to Russian, Russian to English. English to Vietnamese or any language to another language, for example.

TRANSLATING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates in general to recording machines and, in particular, to a recording machine which is compact that may be used for translating messages from one language to another.

2. Description of the Prior Art Recording machines are well known and have been for instructional purposes to teach languages. For example, records are available which alternately make statements in English and German so that a student may learn a language. Disk-type records are generally used for this purpose and the student listens to a complete record during his studies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Under certain circumstances, it is desirable for one who does not understand a foreign language to be able to give simple instructions or ask questions. For example, pilots who are shot down over territory where the natives do not speak English have a need to communicate with the natives.

The present invention provides a small portable recording machine which will reproduce one of a number of prerecorded messages. The messages are on tape and each of the prerecorded tapes has a number of channels and an interpretation card allows the user to select a phrase which may be reproduced in the local language upon actuation of the machine.

Thus, the machine allows communication between persons who do not speak the same language.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an interpretation card for use with this invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an endless belt for use with the machine of this invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the reproducing machine of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed sectional view of the mechanism for loading and unloading tape;

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view of a modification of the tapeJoading mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the playback head of this invention; and

FIG. 7 is an electrical schematic of the machine of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates an interpretation card 10 for use with this invention which has a group of numbered messages printed on it. For example, group 11 may be numbered from I to 12 and may be written in Vietnamese. Group 12 may be written in English for converting English messages into Vietnamese. A third group, 13, may be written in English for converting English to German, for example. A fourth group may be written in English for converting English to French. A fifth group, 16, may be written in English for converting English to Russian. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, 75 messages are printed on an interpretation card 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates an endless belt 18 of tape which is formed with a plurality of channels that correspond to the messages on the interpretation card 10. In other words, for each of the numbered messages on the card 10, there is a recorded message on the tape 18. Along one edge of the tape 18 is attached a strip 19 of electrical conducting material to provide a stop contact for the playback machine.

FIG. 3 illustrates the playback machine 21 of this invention which comprises a case that has a top 22. Sidewalls 23, 24, 25 and 26 extend downwardly from the top wall 22. The interpretation card 10 is held on the top wall 22 by sliding it into channel guides 27 and 28 and under clamps 29 and 31 which are attached to the top wall 22.

A selector knob 32 has a pointer 33 and is mounted on a support 30 which is connected to a guide block 38 mounted within the machine 21. Guide block 38 is formed with a pair of openings through which guide rods 39 and 40 extend. The guide rods 39 and 40 are attached to the end walls 24 and 25 of the machine. An indexing track 36 also extends between the end walls 24 and 25 and the support 30 has an index 37 that engages the track 36 to index the knob 32 and pointer 33. A playback head 43 has a magnetic pickup 44 and is connected by support arm 41 to the block 38 by setscrews 42. By moving the knob 32 between the end walls 24 and 25 in slot 35 the position of the playback head 43 may be controlled. Indicia 34 is mounted adjacent slot 35 and the pointer 33 may be set to the indicia.

A door 50 is formed in end wall 24 and is supported by a hinge 53. A latch 60 allows the door to be held closed. A pair of tape supporting rolls 51 and 52 are mounted in the machine behind the door 50 and the tape 18 is receivable over the rollers 52 and 51. The roller 51 is the drive roller and the roller 52 is an idler roller for supporting the tape.

The roller 51 is supported on a suitable drive shaft mounted in the machine and is driven by a motor, not shown in FIG. 3, to drive the tape. The roller 52 is formed with an indexing ledge 56 against which the tape 18 abuts and is supported by bearings 57 on a stationary cylinder 58. A shaft 59 is eccentrically mounted in the stationary cylinder 58 and extends through a bearing 54 in the end wall 25. A control lever 61 is attached to the end of the shaft 59 outside of the case of the machine. As the lever 61 is moved from a first to a second position, the roller 52 is moved due to the eccentricity of the shaft 59 in the cylinder 58 away from, or toward, the drive roller 51. This allows the tape to be inserted over the rollers 51 and 52 and tightened for operation.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification ofa mechanism for moving the roller 52 relative to the roller 51 for loading and unloading the tape 18. A control lever 63 is pivotally supported by pin 64 from bracket 66 which is connected to the end wall 25. The inner end 67 of lever 63 is received in a sleeve 68 and is pivotally attached thereto by pin 69. Bearing 71 fits between the sleeve 68 and the inner surface of the roller 52 to support it. A spring 72 is mounted between an abutment 73 on the inner surface of the wall 25 and the lever 63 to bias it to move the roller 52 away from the roller 51 and hold the tape 18 taut. When loading, the lever 63 is moved against the spring 72 to move the roller 52 toward the roller 51 and the tape may then be easily removed from the rollers. The arrangement of FIG. 5 allows the roller 52 to be self-centering.

A storage compartment is formed of a bottom container 75 which is attached to the wall 23 of the machine by a piano hinge 76. The container 75 may be held closed with a suitable slide latch, not shown. The storage container 75 may contain extra tapes 18 and their associated interpretation cards 10. In addition, a plug-in speaker may be stored with its extension cable in the container 75.

A battery compartment is formed in the wall 24 and has a cover 77. A volume and on-off knob 78 is also mounted in the end wall 24 and may be partially recessed so it only extends a short distance from the wall 24. A start button 81 is mounted in the top wall 22. A headset jack 82 is also mounted in the wall 22. A pair of brackets 83 and 84 are connected to the machine on the end wall 23 and a shoulder strap 86 has its opposite ends connected to these brackets.

FIG. 7 shows the electrical schematic of the machine. A battery E has one terminal connected to on-off switch which is controlled by the knob 78. When the switch 85 is closed, it energizes motor 88 which is in parallel with the capacitor C. The motor 88 and capacitor C have their opposite sides connected to the second terminal of the battery E.

The motor 88 has a stop lead 89 which is connected to a normally closed start switch 81. The other side of the start switch 81 is connected to a wiper contact 91 which is mounted in the machine at a position such that it engages the conductive tape 19 on the endless tape 18 to stop the machine. A second wiper contact 92 also engages the conductive tape 19 when it is in alignment with the contacts 91 and 92. A lead 93 is connected to contact 92 and is grounded and is also connected to the second terminal of the battery E.

Lead 94 connects the contact 92 with an amplifier 96. Lead 97 is connected from the amplifier 96 to point A and to one terminal of the speaker 87. The other terminal of the speaker 87 is connected to the remote jack 82 to lead 98 which is also connected to the amplifier 96. The playback head 43 has leads 47 and 48 connected to the amplifier 96. A volume control 99 is controlled by knob 78 and is connected to the amplifier 96 to control its output.

In operation, a card and its matching belt 18 is selected and mounted on the machine. To mount the belt, the lever 61 is moved to the load position and the door 50 is opened and the belt 18 is placed over the rollers 51 and 52. The lever 61 is then moved to the run" position and the door 50 is closed.

The knob 78 is turned to close the on switch 85 and a particular message is selected from the card 10 and the knob 32 is moved to place the pointer 33 adjacent the indicia 34 which corresponds to the particular selected message.

The start button 81 is then depressed opening the stop circuit connected through the lead 89 to the motor 88 and the motor starts to operate and drive roller 51 and move the tape 18 relative to the playback head 43. Playback head 43 supplies an input to the amplifier 96 through leads 47 and 48 and an output from the amplifier is supplied through leads 97 and 98 to the speaker 87. The particular selected message is reproduced through the speaker 87 and the tape 18 makes one complete revolution. The conductive foil 19 on the tape 18 passes under the contacts 91 and 92 which again connects the stop lead 89 to ground through the start switch 81, contact 91, foil 19, contact 92 and lead 93. This stops the motor.

As many messages may be reproduced as desired by merely moving the selector knob 32 to select particular messages. Messages of about 4 length are generally sufficient although in one embodiment messages which were 6 seconds in length were used. The volume of the message may be adjusted by volume control knob 78 which moves the volume control 99. The message may be repeated by merely depressing the switch 81 after it has been reproduced and the machine has stopped.

For using the machine as a teaching aid, an earplug speaker may be inserted into the jack 82 thus opening the circuit to the speaker 87 and the user may listen to the message through the earplug. Such use might be desirable, for example, if a student is studying Russian and wishes to hear a particular Russian phrase from the machine.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope ofour contribution to the art.

We claim as our invention:

1. An audio-reproducing machine for reproducing selected messages comprising:

a frame,

a recording medium comprising magnetic tape formed into an endless belt and formed with a plurality ofsoundtracks formed side by side thereon,

a playback head supported by the frame and movable transversely of the recording medium to engage a selected soundtrack,

a guide means comprising a slot attached to the frame.

a guide follower mounted on said guide means and said playback head mounted on said guide follower and indexing means mounted adjacent said guide follower to allow the playback head to be indexed relative to said recording medium, a knob with a pointer attached to said guide follower to rnove said guide follower and said indexing means, driving means mounted on said frame and moving said magnetic tape relative to said playback head,

a reproducer connected to said playback head,

a start and stop circuit for said driving means,

stop means comprising an electrical conductive area associated with the start and stop circuit for stopping said driving means and formed on said tape for stopping said driving means each time a selected sound track has been reproduced,

a portion of said start and stop circuit for said driving means comprising a pair of wiper contacts supported by said frame and engageable with the electrical conductive area,

a pair of rollers mounted on parallel axes from said frame and adapted to receive said endless belt thereon and said driving means coupled to said one of said rollers to drive said belt,

means for moving said rollers relative to each other to allow mounting and driving of the belt comprising a shaft rotatably supported by said frame,

one of said rollers supported eccentrically by said shaft, and

a control lever attached to said shaft and movable to run and load positions.

2. An audio-reproducing machine according to claim 1 wherein said electrical conductive area is formed by attaching conductive foil to said magnetic tape.

3. An audio-reproducing machine for reproducing selected messages comprising:

a frame,

a recording medium comprising magnetic tape formed into an endless belt and formed with a plurality of soundtracks formed side by side thereon,

a playback head supported by the frame and movable transversely of the recording medium to engage a selected soundtrack,

a guide means comprising a slot attached to the frame,

a guide follower mounted on said guide means and said playback head mounted on said guide follower and indexing means mounted adjacent said guide follower to allow the playback head to be indexed relative to said recording medium,

a knob with a pointer attached to said guide follower to move said guide follower and said indexing means,

driving means mounted on said frame and moving said magnetic tape relative to said playback head,

a reproducer connected to said playback head,

a start and stop circuit for said driving means,

stop means comprising an electrical conductive area associated with the start and stop circuit for stopping said driving means and formed on said tape for stopping said driving means each time a selected sound track has been reproduced,

a portion of said start and stop circuit for said driving means comprising a pair of wiper contacts supported by said frame and engageable with the electrical conductive area,

a pair of rollers mounted on parallel axes from said frame and adapted to receive said endless belt thereon and said driving means coupled to said one of said rollers to drive said belt,

means for moving said rollers relative to each other comprising a cylinder, I

one of said rollers rotatably supported on said cylinder,

a lever with one end pivotally attached to the cylinder and an intermediate point of said lever pivotally attached to the frame, and

spring-biasing means between said lever and the frame to bias the one roller away from the second roller. 

1. An audio-reproducing machine for reproducing selected messages comprising: a frame, a recording medium comprising magnetic tape formed into an endless belt and formed with a plurality of soundtracks formed side by side thereon, a playback head supported by the frame and movable transversely of the recording medium to engage a selected soundtrack, a guide means comprising a slot attached to the frame, a guide follower mounted on said guide means and said playback head mounted on said guide follower and indexing means mounted adjacent said guide follower to allow the playback head to be indexed relative to said recording medium, a knob with a pointer attached to said guide follower to move said guide follower and said indexing means, driving means mounted on said frame and moving said magnetic tape relative to said playback head, a reproducer connected to said playback head, a start and stop circuit for said driving means, stop means comprising an electrical conductive area associated with the start and stop circuit for stopping said driving means and formed on said tape for stopping said driving means each time a selected sound track has been reproduced, a portion of said start and stop circuit for said driving means comprising a pair of wiper contacts supported by said frame and engageable with the electrical conductive area, a pair of rollers mounted on parallel axes from said frame and adapted to receive said endless belt thereon and said driving means coupled to said one of said rollers to drive said belt, means for moving said rollers relative to each other to allow mounting and driving of the belt comprising a shaft rotatably supported by said frame, one of said rollers supported eccentrically by said shaft, and a control lever attached to said shaft and movable to run and load positions.
 2. An audio-reproducing machine according to claim 1 wherein said electrical conductive area is formed by attaching conductive foil to said magnetic tape.
 3. An audio-reproducing machine for reproducing selected messages comprising: a frame, a recording medium comprising magnetic tape formed into an endless belt and formed with a plurality of soundtracks formed side by side thereon, a playback head supported by the frame and movable transversely of the recording medium to engage a selected soundtrack, a guide means comprising a slot attached to the frame, a guide follower mounted on said guide means and said playback head mounted on said guide follower and indexing means mounted adjacent said guide follower to allow the playback head to be indexed relative to said recording medium, a knob with a pointer attached to said guide follower to move said guide follower and said indexing means, driving means mounted on said frame and moving said magnetic tape relative to said playback head, a reproducer connected to said playback head, a start and stop circuit for said driving means, stop means comprising an electrical conductive area associated with the start and stop circuit for stopping said driving means and formed on said tape for stopping said driving means each time a selected sound track has been reproduced, a portion of said start and stop circuit for said driving means comprising a pair of wiper contacts supported by said frame and engageable with the electrical conductive area, a pair of rollers mounted on parallel axes from said frame and adapted to receive said endless belt thereon and said driving means coupled to said one of said rollers to drive said belt, means for moving said rollers relative to each other comprising a cylinder, one of said rollers rotatably supported on said cylinder, a lever with one end pivotally attached to the cylinder and an intermediate point of said lever pivotally attached to the frame, and spring-biasing means between said lever and the frame to bias the one roller away from the second roller. 